News: Faculty

2023

High school students find their place in computing through wearables workshop

January 13, 2023

Pedro Lopes stands with high school students holding wearable computer devices they made in his workshop

Sixteen high school students expanded their view of what computer science is by participating in a “Make Your Own Wearables From Scratch” workshop hosted by the University of Chicago.


Robert Rosner, 2023 APS President, takes the helm

January 13, 2023

Robert Rosner

An interview with theoretical physicist Prof. Robert Rosner as he becomes the American Physical Society President in 2023.


Chemist John Anderson comments as substance from chemical plant fire rains down

January 12, 2023

A firetruck extinguishes a fire at a La Salle chemical plant Jan 2023

Chemist and Assoc. Prof. John Anderson comments on the dangerous, reactive residue residents of La Salle are encountering after a chemical plant burned down.


Asst. Prof. Sarah Sebo presents robot-human interaction research to Northwestern

January 10, 2023

people listening to an academic talk

Asst. Prof. Sarah Sebo, Dept. of Computer Science, presented her research on human and robot interactions and their effect on emotions at Northwestern University.


UChicago launches Polsky Deep Tech Ventures to support startups bringing science, tech to market

January 5, 2023

Illustration of computer chips, quantum devices, and binary code

UChicago unveiled Polsky Deep Tech Ventures, a new $20m initiative offering accelerators, entrepreneurial training, and funding dedicated to supporting startups that bring world-changing science and technology to market.


Asst. Prof. Robert Rand receives Air Force Young Investigator Grant

January 4, 2023

Robert Rand

Asst. Prof. Robert Rand of computer science received a $450,000 early career grant from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research Young Investigator Research Program. The grant will fund his research on the formal verification of the ZX-calculus, a graphical system for representing quantum programs.


PIT-UN grant supports DSI Community Data Fellows Program

January 4, 2023

Students discuss the potential of data science with community organizations at the annual Scope-a-thon event hosted by UChicago’s South Side Civic student group.

UChicago has received a grant from the Public Interest Technology University Network (PIT-UN) to create the Community Data Fellows program, which pairs local, community-based nonprofit organizations with UChicago graduate students (Fellows) who possess skills in technology and policy analysis.


New mBio Data Portal brings transparency to genetically modified crops in Africa

January 4, 2023

“Ajala evaluating maize plants in maize experimental plot”

A collaboration between the University of Chicago, University of San Francisco, and University of Cambridge gathers and analyzes data on the funding, location, and research status for more than 230 GMO crop varieties in Africa.


PSD recognized among 2022 UChicago historic highlights

January 3, 2023

A snowy statue of Rockefeller overlooks an aerial view of UChicago campus

PSD news and honors were among the University of Chicago’s historic 2022 highlights. Read more about Eugene Parker (1927-2022), addressing digital disparities, expanding the Chicago quantum network, and the first inaugural South Side Science Festival.


Guangbin Dong named Weldon G. Brown Professor in the Dept. of Chemistry and the College

January 3, 2023

Guangbin Dong

Guangbin Dong has been named the first Weldon G. Brown Professor in the Department of Chemistry and the College.


2022

PSD in the News - December 2022

December 31, 2022

PSD against a white and turquoise background

This month PSD researchers were featured in the news for climate research findings that the Southern Hemisphere is stormier than the Northern, creating a living smartwatch that runs on slime, and seminal contributions to the development of a quantum internet.


University of Chicago scientist explains fusion ignition, what it means for future of clean energy

December 23, 2022

blue light/rays as part of the process of nuclear fusion ignition

The National Ignition Facility (NIF) at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in California was the first to successfully replicate the process of how the sun makes energy, on earth –nuclear fusion ignition. UChicago Astronomy & Astrophysics professor Dr. Don Lamb helped develop a computer code to do experiments on the kind of lasers like the one used to achieve fusion ignition.


The quantum internet, explained

December 16, 2022

hands in purple gloves assemble a quantum research instrument

As part of The Day Tomorrow Began, UChicago News explains the meaning of quantum internet—a network of quantum computers that will someday send, compute, and receive information encoded in quantum states.


The physicist who finds fundamental truths in spilled coffee

December 15, 2022

Sidney Nagel

Sidney Nagel, the Stein-Freiler Distinguished Service Professor of Physics at the University of Chicago, is accepting the 2023 American Physical Society Medal for Exceptional Achievement in Research. The award, sometimes referred to as the ‘lifetime achievement Oscar of physics,’ recognizes “contributions of the highest level that advance our knowledge and understanding of the physical universe in all its facets.”


Don Lamb comments, UChicago scientists contribute to nuclear fusion breakthrough

December 15, 2022

Astrophysicist Donald Lamb on CBS News

Prof. Don Lamb comments on UChicago’s contribution to the net energy gain for nuclear fusion breakthrough achieved by scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Lab.